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NCAER pegs GDP growth at 7.9 pc
Govt moots sick units’ revival
Videocon bids for Daewoo Electronics
Pak allows private channels to air 6 pc Indian content
PHDCCI opposes amendments to Right to Information Act
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Air Sahara announces 14 new routes
Generic drug prices to dip by 60 pc
Neyveli to build lignite mine in Gujarat
HSIIDC revives NPA settlement policy
Pvt oil retailers’ demand for relief rejected
Rolta-Thales JV
Rupee stronger
SBoP plans IPO this year
Narayana Murthy
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NCAER pegs GDP growth at 7.9 pc
New Delhi, August 17 ''Although several developments in the economy may have influenced the change in outlook, one important factor that may have been critical is the decline and volatility of stock prices in the capital market,'' NCAER said in its latest quarterly review of the Indian economy. While the GDP forecast after the first quarter pegs the lower growth this fiscal than last year, it represents improvement over the projections of 7.7 per cent in April, 2006. This improvement has come from industry and services, essentially capturing the effect of higher levels of FDI flows. However, the dip in BCI and reduced level of GDP rate of 7.9 per cent reflects a higher rate of inflation, relatively larger fiscal deficit of the Centre and a larger current account deficit. ''In the case of government spending, higher prices and interest rate implies more expenditure relative to revenue. The higher prices also imply lower export growth. Although import growth also declines, it is not sufficient to offset the impact of the decline in export growth on current account deficit,'' the reputed think tank said. The overall assessment for the current kharif season presented in the NCAER review is that the output may be only marginally better in the case of foodgrains output than last year. The high oil prices have put pressure on the government to support higher levels of subsidies on petroleum products, especially in the case of kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and high speed diesel (HSD). However, by not passing on the higher prices, the government is not promoting the conservation, substitution and investments necessary for more efficient utilisation of petroleum products. The industrial sector is witnessing a high rate of output growth for the third year in a row: the rate of growth of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for manufacturing was 9 per cent per year for the past two years. The first two months have again seen more than 10 per cent growth in the IIP for manufacturing over the same period last year. Thus, although volatility in capital markets affected implementation of new investment plans the output performance continued to be strong. Among industries, GDP from construction sector has grown by 12 per cent for the second year in succession in 2005-06. Supply of housing loans has spurred demand for housing construction and infrastructure projects. Urban infrastructure development has contributed to the strong growth of this sector. ''The rise in interest rates in the current year would have a negative impact on demand for new construction but this negative impact may be offset by income growth if the pace of the economic growth remains high due to other factors such as growth of manufacturing and services sectors,'' the review said. Despite the large outflows of foreign exchange under the merchandise trade account, strong inflows under the invisibles account kept the overall current account deficit within 2 percentage of GDP in 2005-06. But, imports increased at a much slower rate relative to the growth in the same period last year. Moreover, the growth of non-oil imports was even slower, indicating some deceleration in investment
activity. — UNI |
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Govt moots sick units’ revival
New Delhi, August 17 “The concerned file is moving fast,” Heavy Industries Minister Santhosh Mohan Dev told the Lok Sabha during zero hour. He said the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) has considered 41 cases of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and given its recommendations in case of 38 enterprises. The Board has recommended revival of 15 mills of National Textiles Corporation as well, besides 19 mills through joint ventures. The Hindustan Salts Ltd, HMT Ltd, Madras Fertilisers Ltd and Tyre Corporation of India have also been recommended for revival. However, the Board has recommended the closure of Bharat Ophthalmic Glass Ltd and non-operating units of Cement Corporation of India Ltd, the minister said. On revival of sick units, the minister said, “while every effort will be made to modernise and restructure sick public sector companies and revive sick industry, chronically loss-making companies will either be sold-off or closed after all workers have got their legitimate dues and compensation.” He said the merger of one sick unit with another was also an option of revival. For instance, he said, the government has approved merger of Indian Iron and Steel Company Ltd (IISCO) with the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and merger of Praga Tools Ltd with Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd. |
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Videocon bids for Daewoo Electronics
Seoul, August 17 Daewoo Electronics is being sold by its domestic creditors, who own 97 per cent of the unlisted firm. The deal value is not known but earlier media reports suggested the sale could fetch up to $1 billion. The source, who asked not to be identified, declined to name the other bidders but added they were a domestic investor and four foreign firms, including Videocon. For Videocon, which makes televisions, picture tubes and home appliances, a deal would be its third major acquisition in less than two years. Daewoo operates six plants in South Korea and 18 overseas units. Its assets totalled 1.65 trillion won ($1.72 billion) at the end of 2005. The company swung to a 94 billion won net loss in 2005 from a 30.4 billion won in net profit in 2004.
— Reuters |
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Pak allows private channels to air 6 pc Indian content
Islamabad, August 17 The local channels were allowed to air 6 per cent Indian content and 4 per cent English content, Minister in charge of the Cabinet Division, Major Zulfiqar Ali Gondal(retd), told the National Assembly yesterday. The permission was granted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on “a reciprocal basis,” he said. The channels which have been allowed to telecast foreign content are GEO News, GEO Entertainment, ARY One, ARY Digital, Indus Plus, Indus Vision, Hum, DM Digital, Rung TV, Dhoom, TV One, Aaj, TV 2Day and N-Vibe, the minister said. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had allowed 10 per cent foreign content, including Indian programmes, on Pakistani TV channels in its 36th meeting that took place here on February 25. On behalf of PEMRA, the minister said necessary action would be initiated to include 20 per cent Pakistani content on multi-national channels. All Indian channels are banned in Pakistan. In several parts of Pakistan, cable operators continue to flout the ban and air popular Indian channels to get more
subscribers. — PTI |
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PHDCCI opposes amendments to Right to
Shimla, August 17 Ms Sushma
Berlia, President of the chamber, said the decision to exclude side notes made in all areas except the social and development projects would only help shield the bureaucracy and there was no reason for politicians to go for such an amendment. The Indian bureaucracy had been responding well to the one-year-old RIA and the proposed changes was uncalled for, she said here today. She strongly felt that the public should have the right to view file notings as the government decisions were based on it. The public had the right to know where the money was being spent. Ms Berlia asserted that there could be no justification for excluding file notings from the purview of the Right to Information Act. It had been diluted to a large extent with file notings having been kept out. This censorship would render the act meaningless and would make the government functioning opaque, she said. |
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Air Sahara announces 14 new routes
New Delhi, August 17 Air Sahara President Alok Sharma told reporters here that the expansion of the airline would continue till December 16. “During this time, we will be introducing flights to Guanghou (China) and Maldives on the international sector and will connect Delhi with Port Blair," he said. He said the airlines would be operating a daily flight to Maldives through Colombo, besides connecting Dhaka and strengthening its metro network by increasing flights to Kolkata and Hyderabad. With this expansion plan, Air Sahara would be connecting Delhi to six international destinations. As far as domestic sector is concerned, the airline is planning to consolidate by flying more to mini metros like Chandigarh, Indore, Bhopal, Vadodra, Raipur and Nagpur and tourist destinations like Jodhpur, Khajuraho, Port Blair, Trivandrum and Udaipur. |
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Generic drug prices to dip by 60 pc
New Delhi, August 17 "We had a healthy discussion with the representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and they have agreed to voluntarily impose margins of 35 per cent for the retail and 15 for wholesale," Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters here after a meeting with representatives of the industry. Earlier, there were no limits fixed on the margins for unbranded generic drugs and this move will help reduce the price of those drugs by as much as 60 per cent, he said. Mr Paswan said the government would be issuing a notification on the same as requested by the industry. While the industry and the government continue to have differences over the drug price control, Mr Paswan said a 14-member committee has been formed to address various issues to find a middle path, where "the common minimum programme of the government is followed at the same time the growth of industry is not hampered". — PTI
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Neyveli to build lignite mine in Gujarat
New Delhi, August 17 The company will own between 74-89 per cent of the joint venture and the balance will be held by Gujarat Government or companies nominated by it. The project finance will be carried out with the debt:equity ratio of 70:30 and is scheduled to be implemented in five years. The capacity of the mine, to be linked to the 1000-MW project in South Gujarat, will be enhanced to 12 million tonnes per annum in the second phase. Power generated from this project will be made available to Gujarat and other states in the western region as per the allocation. The Ministry of Coal has already accorded approval for signing an MoU with the state government to implement this project.
— UNI |
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HSIIDC revives NPA settlement policy
Chandigarh, August 17 After the meeting, the Chairman of the corporation, Mr M.L. Tayal, said the corporation had registered an unprecedented increase of 63.79 per cent in its profit during 2005-06. He said the corporation had recorded a gross profit of Rs 29.43 crore against the earlier record of Rs 17.98 crore during the previous year. The Board decided to pay a dividend of Rs 2 crore to the state government which is an all-time high dividend paid by the corporation so far. |
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Pvt oil retailers’ demand for relief rejected
New Delhi, August 17 “The private sector oil companies have demanded subsidy from the Government for the losses they have sustained on sale of petrol and diesel. However, since they are not subject to pricing restrictions by the government, there can be no compensation for marketing by them of petrol and diesel within the country,” Oil Minister Murli Deora said
today. — PTI |
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Rolta-Thales JV
Mumbai, August 17 |
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Rupee stronger
Mumbai, August 17 The rupee ended 14 paise higher over the previous closing of Rs 46.5750/5850 as it also derived strength from firm Asian currencies, which remained strong against the dollar after the U.S. data on tame inflation and an increasingly uncertain housing market, forex dealers said. The global crude prices fell below 71.50 dollars a barrel in Asian trade during the day. The RBI fixed the reference rate for the US currency at Rs 46.46 per dollar and at Rs 59.72 per euro.
— PTI |
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SBoP plans IPO this year
Chandigarh, August 17 Mr Yogesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, SBoP, said that for better human resource management and to cut costs the management had decided to close down branches located in close proximity to each other. “We have 33 branches and two extension counters in Patiala itself out of which six will be closed. As part of this restructuring, we closed down 26 extension counters bank last year,” he said. As soon as the amendments to the State Bank of India Subsidiaries Act were cleared by Parliament, SBoP would be ready to raise money from the market. The bank planned to bring out an IPO later this year. The bank’s net paid- up capital was Rs 25 crore though the book value of the shares was Rs 3,000 crore. These shares could fetch up to Rs 15,000 crore in the market,” he said. The Managing Director said the overall business of the bank had grown to Rs 56,000 crore in the last fiscal, with the highest growth in advances (42 %) among private and public sector banks. The bank posted a profit of Rs 303 crore last year as compared to a profit of Rs 280 crore in 2004-05,” he said. |
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Narayana Murthy
Bangalore, August 17 |
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DHL offer to Blue Dart Havell’s eyes Chinese firm
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